FERROELECTRIC CONTROL OF CONDUCTIVITY IN BETA-GA2O3 FOR POWER ELECTRONICS

Abstract

Ga2O3 belongs to the family of ultra wide band gap semiconductors with potentially unrivalled performance thanks to breakdown fields.Ferroelectric materials have two states of opposite electric polarization, switchable by an applied electric field. We propose to study the physical properties resulting from the insertion of a thin ferroelectric film adjacent to Ga2O3 layer in a diode or in a power transistor to provide robust, switchable conducting states. The robust nature of the FE polarization would mean that the internal bias can be switched by a simple voltage pulse instead of continuously applied bias, thus reducing leakage and making such a device suitable for low energy consumption power switch applications. Classical ferroelectrics, such as PbZrxTi1-xO3 or BaTiO3 could perform the same role, however, the minimum film thickness for ferroelectric stability precludes 3D integration, furthermore, they are not in general compatible with Si technologies. Ferroelectric hafnia is, and the maximum polarization is obtained for films between 8-12 nm, ideal for use in microelectronics. The material of choice is HfZrO2 thanks to its low thermal budget and excellent electrical properties.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Aug 12, 2021
Source ID
FA95502010164

Entities

People

  • Nicholas Barrett

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission
  • United States Air Force

Tags

Readers

  • Distributed Systems and Data Platform Development
  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene